I've used Clear Day double-shotguns on Totem Forest speakers. In my system with various amps, the Totems could be hot/harsh...esp. w/certain CDs. It took quite a bit of experimentation to tame their highs. Part of that taming came about when I switched to Clear Day speaker cable. Not commenting vis a vis Audio Art but the Clear Day cable was NOT bright in my system. I think "silver is bright"is a questionable audio truth that has legs mostly because it gets repeated so much - rightly or wrongly; i.e., with or without first hand experience to base the comment on. The Clear Days were a wonderful relief from the Morrow Audio SP-4 cable I had been running. The Clear Day wire provided great heft to the music (like it put on 20 pounds of muscle). Don't read that as meaning things slowed down, however. Detail was very good but not hard edged. Imaging was superb. They provide a very pleasing musical experience. Paul is great to deal with and has a good return policy. Worth trying just to see how they are in your system. BTW - I did recently audition Audience Ohno cables from The Cable Co. Wasn't impressed and sent them back. At some point, I'd love to try a pair of Audio Art cables. Schubert has been very consistent in his praise of them. Good luck in your search.
Budget Audience Clone?
I borrowed a pair of Audience Conductor e speaker cables and they sound fantastic in my system. I have been using Canare 4s11 which sound very good for the price, warm and full and reasonable detailed with a slight softening of transients. The audience has brought everything up a couple notches, including separation, detail, bass tightness and air. My question is, are there any budget speaker cables that are sonically similar to audience? I know the conductor e is not super expensive, but there are other life priorities right now. I should also mention that I liked some of the things that Nordost Blue Heaven did for my system when I borrowed them, but I love everything that the Audience does.